Ancient Ice Steps.

I hope I am allowed to blip a photo I took of one in my album?

Here goes.

Many years ago I went to stay with some friends who had a white castle by a frozen Loche Corrib, in Co Galway.
It seems we were less risky when younger, we kept to the rocks during a New Year's Day walk.

That was such a wonderful New Year's Eve gathering.

I thought it would be a miserable cold castle, I had faced quite a few of those, one with ferns growing inside the window. Not seen at night, as we went to bed by a single candle.
So, on the way I bought an electric blanket.

My heart sank when we drove up and saw the host's sister taking sheets off the line, sheets which were like cardboard. Frozen stiff.

But we got through the heavy little door and were hit by the most unexpected thing in the West of Ireland, warmth, real dry warmth. The whole place had been restored from an old ruin to a place with underfloor heating. I was instantly in love with it.
The heating was the only modern thing. It had been rebuilt with all the old methods, even locks on the bathroom were pegs on leather strings.

I went again one May to this magical place. There was a huge violent gale. The leaves had been scorched and my little 2CV car was half way over a wall by the drive. Easy to lift off luckily.
Summers were good as you could row to a tiny island and have camp fires and imagine we were swallows and amazons again

I had looked out this photograph to show we had it hard too, and thought it fun to compare to today's blip (20.12.10)